Diverse Sources Reveal Changes At Stroh's Brewery

June 11, 1986|by DAN SHOPE, The Morning Call

In today's business of brewing beer, changes become public in unusual ways. Consider the following developments:

- On Page 6 of The Wall Street Journal last Friday was a three-column photograph of former Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris holding a bottle of Barbican beer. Below was the caption, "The new import from Bass Ale that doesn't need the alcohol to taste good."

Not until examining the small print are the facts revealed that the non- alcoholic malt beverage is distributed by Great Northern Imports Ltd., in the Stroh Brewery Co. brewery in Fogelsville.

- Amid the pages of a recent edition of the Lehigh Law Journal was notice that Honolulu Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd. had registered its principal place of business as Routes 22 and 100 in Fogelsville - Stroh's brewery.

- Listed under fictitious name notices in a recent edition of the Allentown's Public Record Bulletin was the following: "Goebel Brewing Co. . . . business address at Routes 22 and 100." - also Stroh's brewery.

Interesting? Well, to George Kuehn, vice president and general counsel in Stroh's headquarters in Detroit, this was business as usual.

"Great Northern is a subsidiary of Stroh established in the last six months," Kuehn said. "It is the importing arm of our business and is located in the Lehigh Valley facility.

"Not only are we looking to import Barbican, which is produced by Bass in the United Kingdom, but we're importing Konig Pilsner, the No. 1 beer in West Germany."

Kuehn added that under the name of Honolulu Brewing and Malting Co., Stroh is now producing Primo, product sold predominately in Hawaii and Boston.

"Goebel is a brand which Stroh started making in the late 1960s," Kuehn said. "It was only after we started making it in the Lehigh Valley brewery that Pennsylvania law required us to make notice here."

Built by F. & M. Schaefer Brewery in 1972, the Fogelsville operation became one of Stroh's six breweriesin 1980, when Stroh purchased controlling interest in Schaefer.

With other brewing facilities in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Longview, Texas; Los Angeles, and St. Paul, Minn., the company hopes to expand the current operation in Fogelsville, Kuehn said.

"We are in the process of negotiating (with Lehigh County Authority (LCA)) to increase our water and sewer allocations," Kuehn said.

In recent years, negotiations between Stroh and Lehigh County officials have failed to produce a pact for the building and operation of a major new sewage pretreatment plant. Meanwhile, LCA and Stroh have disagreed over water rates and Stroh's plan to build its own wells.